1981 Classic GP Manager season
The 1981 Classic GP Manager season is the third season of the Classic GP Manager and the 32nd of Formula One motor racing. The season featured the 1981 RDFIA Formula 1 World Championship, which commenced on 15 March and ended on 17 October after fifteen races. Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed in the 1981 Classic GP Manager season. Driver changes * 1976 World champion James Hunt and a multiple race winner Clay Regazzoni decided to call it a day in F1 after spending a few unsuccesful seasons in smaller teams. Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Renzo Zorzi were other drivers to retire after 1980. * Reigning World champion Alan Jones was outrageously left without a seat for 1981. Double World champion Niki Lauda experienced similar faith to the Australian's. Jochen Mass, Gilles Villeneuve, Noritake Takahara, Michael Bleekemolen and Jan Lammers were other drivers left without a seat. * Héctor Rebaque switched to the management side instead of driving for his own team. * Riccardo Patrese and Jacky Ickx were left without a drive following Brabham's bankrupt just before pre-season tests when all other seats were already filled. * Ferrari overlooked reigning World champion Alan Jones and replaced him with Williams' Nelson Piquet. * Fittipaldi decided not to extend Niki Lauda's contract and signed Ligier's Patrick Tambay instead. * Jean-Pierre Jarier returns to Team Lotus in a deal that sees Derek Daly move the other way to Team Rebaque. * Renault replaced Gilles Villeneuve with 1979 European F2 champion Marc Surer. * Experienced German Jochen Mass was replaced by Wolf's Ricardo Zunino at Shadow. * Hunt, Zunino and Stefan Johansson who raced for Wolf in 1980 weren't offered an extension. Gilles Villeneuve's brother Jacques and young New Zealander Mike Thackwell were the British team's preferred choices. * Arrows' Hans Binder joined rookie Derek Warwick at Toleman. * Alfa Romeo replaced retiring Clay Regazzoni with European F2 race winner Siegfried Stohr. * Ligier changed their line-up completely. Tambay and Takahara were replaced by ATS's promising Andrea de Cesaris and American Kevin Cogan. * To counter Nelson Piquet's departure to Ferrari, Williams signed highly succesful F3 driver Michele Alboreto. * After scoring only four points in 1980, Hans Binder was replaced by returning Ingo Hoffmann at Arrows. * Team Rebaque's owner Héctor Rebaque stepped down from driving role paving way for Lotus' Derek Daly and Wolf's Stefan Johansson as their new driver duo. * Beppe Gabbiani returned to Osella after being sacked after 8 rounds in 1980. 1979 British F3 champion Chico Serra was signed as his teammate. * Rupert Keegan returns to sport after a one year hiatus with Theodore with rookie David Kennedy as his teammate. * Another returning team March chose experience and signed Ensign's Bobby Rahal and Hans-Joachim Stuck as their drivers. Team changes * Brabham went bankrupt at the start of the season leaving numbers 5 and 6 unassigned for 1981. * After failing to score a single point in 1980, Ensign and ATS teams folded during off-season. * Two teams made a return to grid after Theodore (last race in '78) and March (last race in '77) joined the sport. * A highly succesful Formula 2 team, Toleman, made the step up to F1. Season Review 1981 Drivers' Championship standings 1981 Constructors' Championship standings Category:Classic GP Manager seasons